Drivers

Diesel Price Moves Higher for First Time in 11 Weeks

After falling for 10 straight weeks, the average U.S. cost of diesel has done an about-face. Gasoline is higher for the second straight week but oil is slightly lower.

The U.S. Energy Department reports diesel is up 2.1 cents over the past week for a national average of $3.866 per gallon. Despite the increase, the cost is 13.8 cents per gallon lower than the same time a year ago. Prior to the recent string of declines, it hit $4.159 in February, a more than four-year high.

Prices increased in all regions of the country, except in the Central Atlantic region, where it barely moved lower. Averages range from a low of $3.739 in the Gulf Coast region to $3.995 in New England.

Gasoline continued its turnaround, increasing 6.5 cents per gallon over the past week, following a 1.8-cent hike last week, for a U.S. average of $3.603 per gallon. The increase is the biggest in three months.

Gasoline prices over the past week increased in every region of the country, ranging from $3.364 in the Gulf Coast states to $3.938 along the West Coast.

As for oil, it’s down about 50 cents over the past week in New York trading, registering $95.62 per barrel, though it was higher at times last week, hitting a five-week high. Monday it closed at its lowest level since May 2 due to strength in the dollar against foreign currencies and news Friday that OPEC has increased oil production to its highest level in five months.

KeepTruckin is fast-growing company that specializes in providing electronic logging and fleet management solutions for owner-operators and small carriers. It recently announced a new round of capital to fund its expansion. We spoke to KeepTruckin Co-founder and CEO Shoaib Makani about where they came from and where they're going.

A quarterly survey of a varied panel of trucking fleets finds continued strong plans to buy more trucks, especially among larger fleets, and among private fleets looking to address capacity and rate issues – but those truck orders are in many cases about other things than adding capacity, because drivers continue to be in short supply.